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“But young Paul Rudd!” Eliza protested. “I’d totally step-incest for young Paul Rudd. He was so…earnest-eyed and adorable.”
Andi snorted but wasn’t going to let a Paul Rudd—hot or not—discussion derail the master thesis she was laying out. “Moving on from Eliza’s step-incest…Overboard—He gaslights the shit out of her and makes her think she’shis wife and mom to his horrible kids.Huge nightmare scenario. AndGrease? She literally has to give up who she is to win the guy. That’s messed up.” She shrugged and sipped her wine. “The movie I suggested has a much more solid love story.”
Hollyn blinked a few times. “Wow.”
“Aaaand she ruins all romantic movies for us,” Eliza said with a sigh. “Your mind is a scary place.”
“Truth,” Andi agreed. “But I can’t believe more people don’t see it. Horror stories and love stories are two sides of the same coin. Both can involve obsession. Being overtaken by feelings you can’t control. Being driven to doing crazy, out-of-character stuff. Being at someone else’s mercy. Both involve death.”
Hollyn’s eyebrows went up. “Death.”
“Sure. Horror involves actual death, but love stories threaten emotional death if the person doesn’t end up with the one they love. Or that’s the theory they’re selling us.” Andi lifted her glass toward the TV. “Take any one of those movies on the screen and change one little thing, one motivation, and you have a horror movie. Meg Ryan creepily spying on Tom Hanks and his kid, trying to figure out a way to capitalize on his grief and worm her way into his family. Then it goes from lighthearted rom-com toFatal Attraction. The line between the two is very thin.” She reached toward the coffee table and grabbed a handful of popcorn. “In real life too. There’s a reason why people refer to dating as a nightmare.”
“Andrea Lockley, true romantic,” Eliza said with a tilted smile. “Does the neighbor know about your dark view of love? That you’re going to break his heart after you use him for his hot bod?”
The popcorn Andi had put in her mouth stuck in her throat, and she coughed. After another sip of wine, she sent Eliza a look. “I’m not going to break his. He’ll break mine.”
Eliza frowned.
“What do you mean?” Hollyn asked. “Are things getting more serious with him?”
Andi eyed her two friends, wondering how much she should share. Embarrassment made her want to wave off their concerns, not reveal what she’d gotten herself into. But Eliza knew her secrets, and Hollyn would never shame her for anything, so she took a breath and let the truth come out. “Things aren’t more serious—at least not on his end. But I may have let my guard down and developed some feelings.”
Eliza smiled like this was the best news she’d ever heard. “Really? That’s great! Opening yourself up to that is like awhoabig deal for you.”
“Yeah,” Hollyn said, reaching out and giving Andi’s arm a little squeeze. “He seems like a good guy. I’m happy for you.”
Andi shook her head. “Y’all might want to hold off on the congratulations. I slipped up and talked about feelings with him today. We’re not on the same page. He reiterated that this is strictly a friends thing and he isn’t interested in dating in any real way.”
Eliza cringed. “Eww. So, like, I’m cool having sex with you but don’t want to have to actually buy you dinner in public?”
Andi frowned and shook her head. “No, not like that. He wasn’t a dick about it. He just thinks that since I don’t have a lot of dating experience, I’m only getting the feels because it’s new. He called himself the practice guy.”
Hollyn sipped her wine, her gaze concerned.
But Eliza looked pensive. “Practice, huh? I don’t know the guy, but therapist me thinks that may be more about him than you. Maybe he’s trying to protect himself. Sounds like he expects you to move on before long.”
Andi tapped her fingernails against her glass, considering that angle. “Maybe. He is going through his own stuff, too.”
Eliza’s expression turned empathetic. “Girl, aren’t we all? But regardless of how it turns out, I’m proud of you for putting yourself out there. Even if it turns out to be practice, it’s been good for you. You’ve gotten something positive out of it. That’s more than I can say about most of my relationships.”
Andi sighed. “I know. This experience has been worth it. And I have gained a new friend, which can’t be discounted.”
Hollyn shifted to fully face Andi. “Also, I’m definitely not experienced enough in relationships to give advice. Jasper and I are figuring it out as we go along. But”—her tics pulled at her face—“nothing is written in stone. Neither of you really know how this is going to turn out. Jasper and I weren’t planning for things between us to turn into a serious relationship, but it happened. Despite our best efforts to screw it up.” She gave a chagrined smile. “So, as clichéd as this is going to sound, I’m a believer in if something’s meant to be, it will happen. If it’s not, then he was meant to serve some other role in your life and that’s okay, too.”
Andi reached out and patted Hollyn’s knee. “Thanks, lady.”
“And if nothing else,” Eliza said with a sly grin, “you’re having some fantastic sex.”
“How would you know?” Andi said, throwing popcorn at her friend. “I have given you no details on the sex.”
“Oh,” Eliza said with a smug look. “You don’t need to tell me. I watched that cooking video.Girl.”
Hollyn laughed and gave Andi a look. “The chemistry was pretty obvious.”
Andi’s face heated. “Fine. The sex is spectacular.”
Eliza sighed and leaned back in the chair with a dramatic slump. “I’msojealous. Happy for you, but a jealous bitch. I swear, this online dating world is going to kill me. The last guy I swiped right on met me for a drink and admitted that he’d only agreed to meet me because he needed free therapy.”
